Atlus Co., Ltd. (株式会社アトラス, Kabushikigaisha Atorasu) is a Japanese company that creates, publishes, and distributes video games. It also makes arcade machines. Based in Tokyo, Atlus is owned by Sega. The company is known for developing games in the Megami Tensei, Persona, Etrian Odyssey, and Trauma Center series. Its mascot is Jack Frost, a snowman-like character from the Megami Tensei series. Atlus is also known for Print Club arcade machines, which are selfie photo sticker booths in East Asia.

Atlus was created in April 1986 and worked as a game developer for other companies during its early years. In 1989, it became a game publisher. The company was merged into Index Corporation in October 2010. The Atlus name was used by Index Corporation for publishing games until Index went out of business in June 2013. Sega then bought the company through its new subsidiary, Sega Dream Corporation, which later changed its name to Index Corporation in November 2013. In April 2014, the non-game assets and the Index name were separated into a different company, leaving the video game division to be officially renamed Atlus.

A North American branch of Atlus, originally called Atlus USA and now named Atlus West, was created in 1991 to publish and localize games for North America. A European branch, managed by Sega Europe in London, was established in 2017.

History

Atlus was founded on April 7, 1986, as a company that created video games for other businesses. In January 1987, Atlus began selling amusement equipment. In March 1989, it started selling karaoke equipment. Atlus released its first video game under its own name in 1989: Puzzle Boy for the Game Boy. Before this, Atlus games were published by other companies, such as Namco and Hudson Soft in Japan and LJN in North America.

Atlus entered the arcade industry in the 1990s. It made its first arcade video game, BlaZeon, in 1992. In 1995, Atlus partnered with Sega to launch Print Club (also called purikura) at arcades. This was a photo sticker booth that let people take selfies. The idea was created by Atlus employee Sasaki Miho in 1994, but her bosses were hesitant at first. After approval, Print Club was introduced in February 1995 at arcades and later expanded to places like fast food shops, train stations, and bowling alleys. Print Club became popular among young people in East Asia and helped introduce more female customers to Atlus, which had mostly male arcade users before. By 1996, Print Club made up 70% of Atlus’s income. By 1997, about 47,000 Print Club machines had been sold, earning Sega about ¥25 billion (about £173 million or $283 million in 2000). Other companies also made similar machines, and Sega controlled about half of the market in 1997. Print Club eventually generated over $1 billion in sales for Atlus and Sega.

Atlus joined the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 1997. To grow its presence in the amusement industry, Atlus bought a company called Apies from Yubis Corporation in 1999. In 2000, Atlus formed a partnership with Kadokawa Shoten to distribute games. Atlus had financial problems in 1999 and 2000. To fix this, Atlus created a plan to improve its management. As part of this plan, Atlus sold two of its companies (including Apies) to their employees in a management buyout.

In October 2001, Atlus bought a company called Career Soft and became the only publisher of the Growlanser series, a type of game called a real-time strategy role-playing game. In 2004, after releasing Growlanser IV, most of Career Soft’s workers joined Atlus to help make the Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor games. Career Soft was later dissolved as a brand.

In October 2003, a Japanese toy company named Takara bought Atlus. Takara’s video game business was also moved to Atlus. On November 21, 2006, Index Holdings announced it would buy Atlus, effective October 30, 2006. Index Holdings purchased 7.7 million shares (about 55% of Atlus) on November 20, 2006. Atlus became a part of Index Holdings on November 29, 2006.

In March 2009, Atlus and Sting Entertainment announced a partnership where Atlus became the only publisher of Sting’s games in Japan. On September 17, 2009, Index Holdings announced it would move Atlus’s amusement business into a new company called New Entertainment Waves, effective December 1. Shares of the new company were also transferred to Chushoukigyou Leisure on December 1.

On August 30, 2010, Index Holdings announced it would merge with Atlus, with Index Holdings being the main company after the merger, effective October 1. After the merger, Index Holdings would continue using the Atlus brand. Although some fans worried about Atlus’s future, the CEO said Atlus would continue making high-quality games. On November 9, 2010, Index Holdings changed its name to Index Corporation, effective December 1.

From 2010 to 2013, Atlus as a company no longer existed. Its name became a brand of Index Corporation for video games in Japan. However, Atlus USA remained active and was renamed Index Digital Media, serving as Index Corporation’s North American branch. Video games were still released under the Atlus name in North America during this time. In June 2013, it was reported that Index Corporation faced financial problems and had debts of ¥24.5 billion. An Atlus USA spokesperson said the Atlus brand and Index Digital Media were not affected by these issues.

On September 18, 2013, Sega won a bid to buy the bankrupt Index Corporation for ¥14 billion. All Index operations, including the Atlus brand and Index Digital Media, were moved to a new company called Sega Dream Corporation on November 1, 2013. Sega later renamed Sega Dream Corporation to Index Corporation.

On February 18, 2014, Sega announced it would split Index Corporation’s businesses into a new company. The old Index Corporation and its video game division were renamed Atlus, effective April 1, 2014. The new Atlus included Index Digital Media, which would be renamed Atlus USA.

In April 2017, Sega Sammy Holdings announced it would move its headquarters and major subsidiaries in Tokyo to Shinagawa-ku by January 2018. The goal was to improve teamwork and management efficiency. Atlus is one of the companies that moved as part of this plan.

Development organization

Atlus has three internal development teams within the company that create its games:

• Creative Department 1st Production (Team Maniax): Led by Shinjiro Takata, this is the oldest team at Atlus. It has been working since the company was founded. This team is responsible for creating games in the Megami Tensei series, including main titles like Shin Megami Tensei and spin-off series such as Devil Children, Persona (before Persona 3), Devil Summoner, Last Bible, Majin Tensei, Digital Devil Saga, and Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE. The team also developed the Trauma Center and Etrian Odyssey series.

• Creative Department 2nd Production (P-Studio): Led by Kazuhisa Wada, this team was created in 2006 during the development of Persona 3. It was formed to work alongside Team Maniax, which focused on the Megami Tensei series. P-Studio became the main team for developing Persona series games, including Persona 3, Persona 4, and Persona 5. Katsura Hashino, who directed Persona 3 and other games like Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne, led the team until 2016. After Hashino left, Wada became the head of the division. P-Studio also developed the game Catherine in 2011.

• Creative Department 3rd Production (Studio Zero): Led by Katsura Hashino, this team was formed in 2016 after Hashino left P-Studio. He wanted to create new projects unrelated to the Persona series. Studio Zero includes 14 former members of P-Studio, such as character designer Shigenori Soejima and scenario writers Yuichiro Tanaka and Azusa Kido. The team developed Metaphor: ReFantazio, a fantasy role-playing game, which was first announced in 2016 as Project Re Fantasy. Studio Zero’s first project was the enhanced version of Catherine, titled Catherine: Full Body, released in 2019.

International branches

Atlus West, which was first called Atlus U.S.A., Inc., was founded in 1991 and is located in Irvine, California. It is the American branch of Atlus and publishes games made by Atlus and other developers. From 2010 to 2014, the company was known as Index Digital Media because Atlus was merged into Index Corporation.

Some Megami Tensei games were not released in North America. In the 1990s, the first three games from the series to be released in North America were Jack Bros. for Virtual Boy, Revelations: Persona for PlayStation, and Revelations: The Demon Slayer for Game Boy Color. In 2004, Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne became the first main-series game in the U.S. Since then, the series has been translated and released in the U.S., including games like Persona 3, Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army, and Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey.

Atlus West translated and published Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, a popular game created by Nippon Ichi Software. The company also published Tactics Ogre and remakes of Kunio-kun and Double Dragon games for the Game Boy Advance. Other notable games include Snowboard Kids and Snowboard Kids 2 for Nintendo 64, Odin Sphere, and the Trauma Center series. In 2004, Atlus USA released Riviera: The Promised Land, a role-playing game for the Game Boy Advance, in partnership with Sting and Bandai. In 2006, Atlus USA and Sting released Yggdra Union, a strategy role-playing game for the Game Boy Advance. After Working Designs published Growlanser Generations, Atlus USA released Growlanser: Heritage of War in 2005 and Growlanser Wayfarer of Time in 2012.

Atlus West created an online division, including the Atlus Online portal, which supported games like Neo Steam: The Shattered Continent and Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine. On March 31, 2013, the Atlus Online Division was bought by Marvelous AQL and moved to Xseed Games. Atlus USA published games under the Marl Kingdom name, starting with Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure in 2000. On February 18, 2014, Sega announced that Index Digital Media would change its name back to Atlus USA. In March 2016, Sega announced it would publish all future localized Atlus games in North America. Between 2019 and 2020, Atlus USA changed its public name to Atlus West.

Until 2017, Atlus did not have a European division to publish and distribute its games in Europe and Oceania. Instead, many Atlus games in these regions were published by Nippon Ichi Software (NIS) and its American branch, NIS America. After Atlus was acquired by Sega Sammy Holdings, NIS found it difficult to work with Sega and Atlus for distribution. In April 2016, NIS ended its partnership with Atlus. In July 2016, Deep Silver announced it would become Atlus’ distributor for Europe and Oceania, publishing games in both stores and online. In August 2017, Atlus announced it had opened a European team in Sega Europe’s offices in London to publish all its games moving forward.

Corporate mascot

Jack Frost is a character from the Shin Megami Tensei video game series. He is the company's mascot and appears as a demon. He looks like a snowman but has teeth, a tail, and no nose. He wears a jester hat, a collar, and shoes. His favorite saying is "Hee-Ho." Jack Frost has appeared in many games, including those in the Shin Megami Tensei series, Jack Bros., and Persona. He is a secret character in the North American and Japanese versions of SBK: Snowboard Kids, with a bigger role in the Japanese version. Jack Frost has family members, and more relatives were added after the release of Shin Megami Tensei II. These include King Frost, Jack-O-Lantern (called "Pyro Jack" in some versions), Frost 5 Senshi, and Black Frost.

Animation based on Atlus games

• Shin Megami Tensei: Tokyo Mokushiroku
• Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner (Television Series)
• Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children
• Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children 2 Light & Dark
• Devil Survivor 2: Animated Version
• Persona: Trinity Soul
• Persona 4: Animated Version
• Persona 4: Golden Animated Version
• Persona 3 The Movie: #1 Spring of Birth
• Persona 3 The Movie: #2 Midsummer Knight's Dream
• Persona 3 The Movie: #3 Falling Down
• Persona 3 The Movie: #4 Winter of Rebirth
• Persona 5: Animated Version – The Day Breakers
• Persona 5: Animated Version